Christ at the Center

April 25, 2021 - Let the Lord Jesus Lead the Way

Part 3 of Father Harris' Easter season homily series, “Arise: Experiencing Life in Christ.” Our baptism into Christ is an ongoing reality. We continue to receive the divine gifts of faith, hope, and love. The virtue of faith was the subject for the Second and Third Sundays of Easter; hope, for the next two Sundays. Faith enables us to believe in God, and what He has  revealed through His Church because God is truth. Hope enables us to trust that God will fulfill His promises as we cooperate with His providence. We continue to arise with hope because of the promises that God has already fulfilled. Let the Lord Jesus lead the way through our journey of life in preparation for the life to come.

April 18, 2021 - Christ Has Confience in the Power of our Witness

Part 2 of Father Harris' Easter season homily series, “Arise: Experiencing Life in Christ.” In the Gospel Reading, the disciples went from confidently declaring that the Lord is risen to becoming terrified when the Risen Lord appeared to them. But theyhad a joy that they could not contain when they realized that it was the Risen Lord and heard His message. Through our successes and stumbles on the journey of faith, the Lord Jesus Christ has confidence in the power of our witness. We must never discount it. Christ does not. He is depending on it for the salvation of souls.

April 11, 2021 - God Will Do What He Has Promised

Part 1 of Father Harris' Easter season homily series, “Arise: Experiencing Life in Christ.” Believing in the Risen Lord raises our expectations about what Jesus Christ can accomplish within us as we cooperate with Him. When we arise with faith in God, we trust that God will do what He has promised. We can cooperate with the Risen Lord by practicing the virtues of faith, hope, and love. God gave them to us through Holy Baptism. When we arise with faith in God, we trust in what God can do for Himself (i.e., rise from the dead), through His Church, and through each disciple. (Note: At one point, Father Harris had to address a major distraction in the church while he was preaching.)

April 4, 2021 - The Risen Lord Raises Our Expectations

When the “Holy Myrhhbearers” came to the tomb on the third day after His death, they expected Him to be dead. Other disciples had the same expectation, even though the Lord had taught otherwise. Easter is a reminder to allow the Risen Lord to raise our expectations about what He can accomplish in our lives with our cooperation.

March 24, 2021: Rejoice in Receiving the Remedy of God

Nicodemus believed that the signs that Jesus had performed showed that Jesus had come from  God (cf. John 3:2). In the incarnation of Jesus, the only Son of God, God provides the remedy for our wounds of sin and death. The great sign that He will show is the offering of Himself being "lifted up" in His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension (cf. John 3:14-16). After Nicodemus sees Jesus lifted up in His crucifixion, he responds in love, living according to the truth (cf. John 19:38-42; John 3:21a)). Nicodemus put his faith to work. It was "clearly seen as done in God" (John 3:21b).

March 7, 2021 - God's Righteousness is a Gift for Us

Part 3 of Father Harris' Lenten homily series, “Beloved of God: A Redemptive Relationship”.Considering the remarkable gift of God's love for each one of us is a blessing. Even when God is correcting us. The righteousness of God is: (1) His initiative to rescue us from sin and death; (2) restoring us to our true identity; and (3) helping us to live with integrity. These are the actions of our God whose love for us is everlasting. Therefore, we will receive His commandments with love. Living acording to His Word leads to everlasting life with God.

 

Feb 28, 2021 - God is Resolved to Offer Salvation

Part 2 of Father Harris’ Lenten homily series, “Beloved of God: A Redemptive Relationship.”   To allow God to reign over us, we need a repentant mind, desiring what God desires for us. We need a regulated mind, guided by the Gospel of Christ as interpreted by His Church. As God enables us to do that, we will have a renewed mind. We also need a resolute mind. God refused to abandon us to sin and death because God loves us. God is resolved to offer salivation to us. We receive this gift through our resolution to allow God to save us, to set us free by the cross and resurrection of Christ. This is the lesson that the Apostle Petter must learn.

Feb 21, 2021 - Let God Reign

Part 1 of Father Harris’ Lenten homily series, “Beloved of God: A Redemptive Relationship.”  Trust is at the heart of every loving relationship. Sin and death wounded the human condition when distrusting God led to disobeying God. The enemy of our souls continues to tempt us to distrust God. In the Gospel reading, the Lord Jesus invites us to have the right mindset to let God reign over our lives. Beloved children of God have minds that are: (1) repentant, (2) regulated by God's directions for fruitful living, and (3) renewed by God’s grace. These are not lofty goals that cannot be attained. We must not declare impossible what God makes possible through the gift of His life and love dwelling within us. Trusting in God with patience are expressions of loving God.

Feb 7, 2021: Believing in the Lord's Power to Heal

We commend ourselves and others to the Lord when we are sick. We believe in the Lord’s power to heal. The Gospel accounts of the healing miracles of the Lord inspire us not to place any limitations on God. This includes the way God chooses to heal. The experience of physical healing as an answer to prayer strengthens our faith. However, our faith can also be strengthened when we are not physically healed.

Jan 31, 2021 - Overcoming Evil with Christ our Lord

The Lord Jesus Christ is continuing to proclaim the Gospel of God and to build the Church of God. He invites people to live in fellowship with Him, following His teaching and example. The Lord intends for His Gospel to be applied to the concrete circumstances of life. In the Gospel reading, it is happened during a Sabbath Service at the Capernaum synagogue. The Lord teaches His disciples about the power of His Word to confront the oppression of evil and to overcome it.